Lonely Miracle
by Tai Luva
Summary: At a New Year’s Eve Party, two people struggling with their own demons find what they were looking for. Miyasuke/Daiyako


Summary: At a New Year's Eve Party, two people struggling with their own demons find what they were looking for. Miyasuke.  
  
~Lonely Miracle~  
By: Tai Luva  
  
Yolei didn't even know why she was here. She sighed and began to climb the slightly worn steps to the house that was already vibrating with the bass from the music. It was stupid really, she barely knew the girl who was throwing the New Year's Eve party (they were in the same calculus class) and she wasn't even going to have a good time with Ken and Kari there. The cool winter's air stirred the hem of her dress. She reached up and rang the bell with her right hand as she adjusted the wrap with her left. At least she could take solace in the fact that she was definitely dressed to kill - a short, red strapless dress and sheer wrap with a hood. It was sort of like little red riding hood with an attitude, but she pulled it off. Ichijouji, eat your heart out.   
  
That was the real reason she came - to make Ken realize just exactly what he'd lost when he dumped her because he needed some 'personal space.' It was funny, he seemed to get enough space damn quickly because he was dating Kari within two days of their separation. Some friend she turned out to be. Yolei was also hoping to find someone fresh to ring in the new year with. Out with the old, in with the new - that was her theory.  
  
The door of the house opened, interrupting her thoughts. "Hi Yolei! Come on in!" shouted Aeka, the girl from calculus, over the music. "Follow me!" Yolei navigated the huge lower level directly behind Aeka, who pointed out the hot spots, "The drinks are in the den, food's on the dining room table, there's the bathroom, and then of course there are the steps to the upstairs bedrooms." She smiled, "If you happen to meet somebody . . ." Yolei faintly heard the doorbell ring again, "Oh, I'd better get going, I'll see you later Yolei, thanks for coming!" Yolei watched as she disappeared into the mass of people.  
  
Sitting in the semi-shadows of the stairway, she noticed a figure flicking a can tab into an empty cup. Davis. It was strange because he was usually the life of every party. Maybe she should go talk to him.   
  
"YOLEI! You made it!" came a shriek from behind her. It was Joisu, her chem lab partner, "That is a kick ass dress! You look so great! Oh, you know Fushira, the guy that sits in the back corner of our class? I heard he wants to hook up with you tonight."  
  
"Really?" She'd talk to Davis later.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Davis didn't even know why he was here. Probably because he had no where else to go. He felt the same dull internal and external ache he always felt when this happened. His dad didn't mean it, he just occasionally drank too much. His job was stressful and Davis got in the way sometimes, it was understandable. It wasn't his father's fault, it was his own.  
  
After all, Davis goaded him when he came home loaded and looking to vent his frustrations on something . . . someone. Better himself than Jun or his mom, he could take it. They didn't need that. Davis had dropped them off at his aunt's house for the night before coming here, but he couldn't stay and listen to them bad mouth his dad all night. He wasn't a horrible man when he was sober. Davis vowed he would never come home drunk when he had a family.   
  
"YOLEI!" He barely heard the shrill voice over the music. He looked up from idly flicking a can tab into an empty glass to indeed see Yolei about 15 feet away, talking to a girl he didn't know. It was amazing how different she looked with contacts.  
  
He gave her a small wave but he didn't think she really saw him. He smiled a little at her dress, Yolei didn't really seem like the type to ever be caught in something so short. But then again, he had been known to be wrong in the past, though he'd never admit it.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"My, what full lips you have," said someone behind her. Yolei was standing at the beverage table, pouring herself a drink. She turned and found herself face to face with Fushira, the boy from her chemistry class. Well, more accurately she was standing face to chest with him, he was at least a foot taller than her measly 5'2".   
  
"All the better to kiss with," she said, playing along.  
  
He laughed, his face breaking into a broad grin. He was quite good looking - muscular build, wavy blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and he even had a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled. "Really? You know, if you ever need anyone to practice on, I'm your man. Besides, I could help you get to grandma's house safely." He added, fingering the edge of her hood.  
  
She eyed him carefully and then moved a step closer, toying with him, "Maybe I should worry about you. How do I know you're not the big bad wolf?"   
  
"You don't," he smiled mischievously.   
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey kid, you fall in the toilet or something? There's a line out here," shouted someone from the other side of the bathroom door, knocking loudly. Davis didn't move from the edge of the tub where he was sitting with the light off. The music was too loud and the bass had started to throb in his temples, he needed to get away from the crowd and the noise and the ache and the demons in his head before they all drove him insane.   
  
Mostly, he needed someone to talk to. He thought Yolei might have come over but she had spent the whole night with Fushira. Davis didn't entirely trust him, they played soccer together and he had a reputation of being a bit . . . well . . . there were rumors. Davis had heard some things that Fushira's ex girlfriend had supposedly said . . . whether they were true or not he didn't know. But date rape was something Davis didn't take lightly.   
  
He'd been watching Yolei to make sure Fushira didn't try something with her all night. It wasn't like Davis had anything better to do, and he'd hate to see his friend get hurt twice in one week. She deserved better than that. Even though four years had passed since their last encounter with Myotismon, Davis still kind of kept an eye out for all of the Digidestined. It was stupid, but even after all this time he felt he still had that responsibility to fulfill. He probably always would.  
  
He had to admit that the relationship he had with Yolei was weird. Sometimes they clicked and totally agreed on everything and others they just went at each other sharply, without any reason at all. Davis sometimes didn't even know why he instigated her so much. He just . . . had to vent his feelings somewhere, he guessed, before they swallowed him up inside. He didn't know. He didn't care to know. He only wanted this hollow ache to go away.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"You know, you look absolutely breathtaking tonight Yolei," Fushira whispered in her ear. Yolei felt her cheeks heat up, guys never said things like that to her. The last compliment she remembered receiving was from Davis at the winter semi-formal, when he'd said, quote, "Wow, Yolei, you actually look like a girl." Not exactly a huge confidence booster. Still, it was nicer than anything Ken had bothered to say to her. He was always too wrapped up in his little pet projects to pay her any attention, though he seemed to have had enough time to have noticed Kari. Her eyes rested on the left corner of the room, where jerk-fuck and the bitch were dancing, totally oblivious to the world. God, she hated them.  
  
"What's wrong? You seem upset." Fushira looked at her with concern tinting his ocean blue eyes. "Was it something I said?"  
  
"No, it's not you. I just . . ."  
  
He followed her gaze to Ken and Kari, who were now locked in a deep kiss. " . . . need to get out of here for a second," he finished for her.  
  
"Exactly," she sighed gratefully.  
  
"Why don't we go to the kitchen?" With that he grabbed her wrist and pulled her playfully in that direction. As they neared the stairs, she noticed they were empty except for an opened can of Labatt Blue. Davis must have solved whatever minuscule problem was plaguing him and keeping his life from being entirely perfect. He didn't know what it was like to have a serious issue to deal with. She would have loved to have the minor problems Davis did, he was always so happy and easy-going, he didn't have anything to worry about except the stupid little torch she was sure he still held for Kari. That was probably what he was lamenting earlier that night.  
  
"I like the way you think," said Fushira, tightening his grip on her wrist and pulling her toward the stairs. Yolei noticed the alcohol on his breath for the first time that night.  
  
"Huh? No way!" She exclaimed, realizing what he was implying, "Let's just go to the kitchen, okay Fushira?"  
  
"I always thought you were smart, Yolei," he said calmly, continuing to head for the stairs, "don't let me down now by saying stupid things like that. You and I both know we'll never make it to the kitchen tonight."  
  
"Please Fushira, stop it. I don't want to go upstairs. I'm not joking." She fought to keep the fear out of her voice.   
  
His face hardened as he tightened the grip on her wrist even more. It began to throb. "Neither am I ." She struggled against him as he yanked her harshly up the stairs, knocking over the beer and dropping her wrap in the process. She couldn't get away, he was too strong. No one could hear her scream over the music.   
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Inconsiderate little shitheads," cursed Davis under his breath as he eyed the overturned can of Labatt and the puddle of amber liquid beneath it on the linoleum at the bottom of the steps. They had wasted a perfectly good can of beer - not just any beer, his beer - and for what? Drunken sex with a person they'd vaguely remember. What a way to spend the evening.   
  
Well, it wasn't like sitting in the semi-darkness drinking himself sick was a real blast either, but hell, it was something he at least wouldn't regret in the future. Davis was just about to leave to grab himself another beer from the cooler when he noticed something shimmering on the second step in a crumpled heap.  
  
His throat tightened as he lifted the sheer red piece of material. Please don't let it be Yolei's. Anybody but her. Davis did a frantic scan of the dance floor for her, his heart sinking as each second passed. She wasn't there. Fushira wasn't there. Where in hell were they? Oh God, if he was . . .   
  
Davis ran up the stairs taking two steps at a time, praying for once that he wasn't right; praying that he'd made a mistake; praying that he wasn't too late.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Fushira was now behind her, shoving her down the hall toward an open door. She prayed for a miracle. Maybe one of the other couples would come out of a room and realize something was wrong, maybe he would be struck dead from some unexplained reason right then, maybe she herself would. Anything would be better than . . .   
  
Yolei began to cry.   
  
"What do you think you're doing Fushira?" Yolei turned at the sound of that familiar voice, as did Fushira. At the top of the stairs stood Davis, muscles tense, holding what looked like a piece of cloth in his clenched fist. Fushira pushed her hard into the wall and Yolei collapsed on the ground from the pain and shock. She watched in horror as he stalked down the hall toward Davis, his own hands tightening into fists. He stopped about a foot from him, and Yolei realized just how out matched Davis was, Fushira was at least six inches taller than him and twice as muscular.   
  
"Look Motomiya, you didn't see anything, alright? You're just going to turn around, go get yourself another beer, enjoy the rest of the party, and learn not to stick your nose where it isn't wanted. Understand?" Yolei wouldn't have blamed Davis if he had turned around right then and there. It wasn't his fight, this was her own damn mess.  
  
Davis face hardened in a way she had never seen before. "Look Fushira, maybe you should learn not to stick your cock where it isn't wanted." He paused and dropped whatever it was he was holding onto the floor, looking ready to fight. "Understand?"  
  
Fushira's mouth twisted into an odd smile. "Perfectly." Yolei gasped as his punch connected directly in the center of Davis' stomach.   
  
Davis doubled over but quickly recovered, moving with a speed he generally reserved for the soccer field. He threw a sharp hook to Fushira's jaw, who cursed and swung blindly, connecting with Davis' face. Yolei cringed at the sight of blood pouring out of his nose and down his chin. Davis reacted again with lightning speed, this time hitting Fushira hard in the shoulder, which was enough to make him stumble backward.   
  
Davis leaned forward, trying to stop some of the blood which pooled in his hands. Fushira let out a violent grunt and struck Davis with a devastating blow to the stomach, where he had hit before. There was a sickening crack, and then Davis collapsed on the ground, his chest heaving laboredly. Yolei felt ill.   
  
Fushira moved back down the hall toward her where she sat, frozen with fear. So much for her miracle. She noticed he was rubbing his jaw and that one of his eyes was beginning to swell. He narrowed them anyway, "Your not fucking worth the trouble bitch." He turned back around, kicking Davis sharply in the stomach before heading down the steps. "Neither of you."  
  
Yolei breathed deeply, closing her eyes. She was okay. She was okay. She was okay. She was okay. She was okay. She repeated the words over and over until they made no sense anymore. She was okay. She was okay. She was okay. Nothing had happened, she wasn't sitting on a cold floor in somebody else's house, she didn't almost get raped. Nothing had happened. She was okay. She was okay. She was okay. A groan snapped her back to reality - Davis.   
  
Fresh tears came to her eyes as she walked slowly toward him. He lay in a heap on the floor, curled into the fetal position, holding his stomach, letting out moans so full of pain she felt her heart wrench. Yolei knelt down beside him, smoothing his hair gently, wishing she could somehow ease his pain after her had risked so much to help her. Davis' eyes remained closed but his cries of anguish subsided. "Yolei? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" His voice was weak and cracked as he spoke.  
  
"Davis, it's okay, I'm fine. It's you we're going to worry about now, okay? I'm going to get you some help."  
  
"No, wait." He swallowed hard, "Don't leave. Please. I'm okay. Don't go." He groaned again and bit his lower lip, balling up his fists tightly as he tried to hide his pain from her. Yolei felt sick from guilt and pity. This was all her fault. "Please," he pleaded. He coughed as blood poured down into his mouth.  
  
"I won't go, I promise." She turned his head to the side for him, laying it softly down on the piece of material he had dropped before the fight. It was her wrap. Yolei stroked his hand gently in her own and tried to fight the tears. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to turn out. Davis began to tremble, then convulse with a violence that scared her. Yolei wept as she felt him go limp in her arms, retching a mixture of vomit and blood onto the cold wood floor.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The sheets were thin and he was cold. The hum of a machine to his left was deafening. Sheets? Machine? There was some sort of mask on his face but Davis felt too weak to open his eyes. His nose hurt and his chest hurt and his stomach hurt and he didn't know where he was.   
  
A faint voice crackled over an intercom, "Paging Dr. Sanyo, Dr. Sanyo please report to radiology." He was in a hospital. A more familiar voice to his right spoke out, "Please, can't you tell me anything else?" It was Yolei.  
  
"I really can't, we'll have to wait until his parents arrive. Are you sure you have no idea where they are? There's no answer at the number you gave us." They wouldn't get an answer either. His dad was probably passed out dead drunk on their sofa.  
  
"I don't know." Yolei sounded beside herself, "That's his home number . . . they should be there. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She began to cry.   
  
"It's okay dear. Come on, how about we go for a little walk while the doctor checks him over again, alright?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
Davis heard the door close and then reopen about a minute later. The doctor picked up something at the end of his bed and began to read, "Davis Motomiya - admitted at 11:37 p.m. Semi-conscious, bruises covering most of the left half of the face, uncontrolled vomiting and convulsions, shattered cartilage in the nasal cavity, three broken ribs, collapsed left lung punctured by rib. Boy, not a good night for you, huh kid?"  
  
She was more talking to herself, she didn't know he was awake. She shook his arm lightly and spoke to him gently, "Davis, can you wake up for me for a second?"  
  
He opened his eyes ever so slightly, the white lights of the hospital room burned into his pupils. "Yes?" he answered. His voice was hoarse, it hurt to talk. He just wanted to sleep again.  
  
"I need you to sit up for just a minute so I can check the progress of your breathing, we had to operate on you."  
  
His chest ached as he sat up, constricting with each breath he took. His hand gripped the sheets tightly from the pain, he felt like crying more than he ever had in his life.   
  
"I'm just going to take off the oxygen mask and take a listen to your chest." As she did so, Davis felt like he was drowning, gasping for breath. The air was heavy and he couldn't get enough of it into his lungs. The cold stethoscope on his back made him shiver but all he could think about was getting more air. He took in frantic gulps, his head was spinning . . .  
  
The doctor replaced the mask and helped him back gently onto the pillow, "Sorry about that." He laid his head back on the pillow and concentrated on slowing his breathing, "We're going to have to keep you at least over night."  
  
"S'okay." he wheezed out.   
  
"Davis, there's something I wanted to ask you about. When we were operating, we found . . . well, we found other bruises. One's that looked as though they'd been inflicted about a week ago by something other than just a fist. And burns . . ." Davis shuddered as he remembered the smell of his flesh as his father pushed a lit cigarette against the inside of his arm, the feel the sharp leather belt being drawn across his back again and again ceaselessly, "How's your home life?"   
  
"Fine," he answered defensively. He could feel that horrible emptiness beginning to creep through his very soul again.  
  
"You can be honest Mr. Motomiya, your parents aren't here."  
  
"I am being honest," he responded, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice, "My home life is perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern."  
  
The doctor sighed, "Okay, whatever you say. Just remember that we have counselors here if you feel like you need someone to talk to."  
  
"There's nothing to talk about." And there wasn't, he was handling it fine all on his own. He didn't need or want anybody's help.   
  
"Alright Davis," she said, her voice growing softer, " I think it would be best now if you just relaxed and tried to go to sleep again."  
  
That was the best idea he had heard all day. He nodded his head minutely in affirmation and heard her leave the room after playing with some buttons on the machine and dimming the lights. He had almost drifted back to sleep when the door to his room opened again. He listened as someone sat down in the chair beside his bed and began to cry softly. "I'm so sorry, Davis." He felt a soft hand stroke his own with a gentleness he never knew a human touch could hold before. Or maybe he'd just forgotten. He opened his eyes and looked at Yolei, her face racked with guilt and sorrow.  
  
"It's alright," he answered quietly; thoughtfully, "I chose that fight. I choose all my fights. I'm just glad that you're alright."  
  
She had stopped crying but continued to hold his hand. "Thank you Davis. I should have known my miracle was nearby. That it was you. You've always been there for me."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Never mind." He leaned his head back against the pillow as she spoke, he was too tired to try and understand what she meant. He was just happy to listen to the sound of her voice. "Davis?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I . . . I overheard the doctor before . . ." she trailed off. Davis hoped she wouldn't continue, that he could keep his skeletons in the closet where they belonged, "It happened again tonight, didn't it? Before you came. That was why you were sitting on the stairs."  
  
Davis hesitated. If he talked about it, then that meant it had actually happened, it meant that he had a problem, it meant that he could no longer keep up the facade that he had worked so hard to keep standing even as his life crumbled around him. It meant that he needed her to save him just had he had saved her earlier that evening.   
  
But Davis could tell that if he didn't open up now, the horrible emptiness would overtake him completely. "I . . ." he began, but couldn't get any farther. Hot salty tears flooded his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. He knew Yolei couldn't understand it exactly, but he didn't want understanding, and he sure as hell didn't want pity, he just wanted someone to be there. Yolei /was/ there, and that was enough for Davis. He squeezed her hand as he realized she had tears in her own eyes.  
  
For first time in four years Davis felt as if he wasn't the only one who had to bear this pain, that he had found a true friend. Somehow, in that moment, his hollowness didn't feel as infinite as it had only minutes before. Then he understood. That was the miracle.  
  
  
~The End~  
  
-Tai Luva   
tais_gurl2000@yahoo.ca or li_luva_2000@yahoo.ca 


End file.
